Ukraine's Foreign, US Mercs in Zaporozhye Reportedly Left for Israel

Previous reports, such as the one published in a major Spanish newspaper earlier this month, cited claims suggesting that foreign soldiers of fortune had opted to flock to Israel to assist the Israeli Defense Forces amid the war in Gaza.

Foreign mercenaries within the ranks of Ukraine’s Armed Forces who were based in the Zaporozhye region, including Americans, have reportedly left for Israel.

The Russian military has not encountered them for a long time amid the ongoing special operation in Ukraine, Russian war correspondent for RT, Igor Zhdanov, reported on Telegram. It’s been a while since any foreigner was heard in intercepted radio chatter, it was added.

During its now-failed spring-summer counteroffensive attempt, the Kiev regime had thrown numerous forces at the Zaporozhye direction, with Ukraine’s military ranks significantly bolstered by foreign mercenaries. Some, like the private military assemblage Forward Observations Group (FOG), which traveled to Ukraine, reveled in shooting photo and video footage for social media consumption. However, as Russia continues to deliver precision strikes in the course of its special ops, including targeting training facilities set up by foreign mercs, many hirelings appear to have realized their gamble in Ukraine might have been a reckless one.

However, first, the offensive attempt notoriously failed, with Kiev unable to provide its Western donors with any significant battle front successes. Then, the Palestine-Israel conflict spiraled, drawing the attention of the media, and feeding into the growing “Ukraine fatigue.”

Foreigners came to Ukraine more for PR than to fight, one commander of a unit of Russian Special Forces emphasized, adding:

“Neither American, nor non-American, nor any other mercenaries took part directly in the counterattack effort. They did not walk ahead of the battle formations.”

Recently, a bombshell report published in a major Spanish newspaper claimed that mercenaries in Ukraine have been flocking to Israel to help the Israeli Defense Forces fight Hamas in Gaza. Pedro Diaz Flores, a Spanish national who previously fought as a hireling in the ranks of Ukraine’s notorious neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, told the paper that like others, he had gone to Israel for the money. However, the merc’s social media account featuring photos of his alleged feats in Israel has since been wiped.

A spokesperson for the IDF, which mobilized 360,000 reservists after Hamas’ surprise October 7 attacks in southern Israel, assured that the Israeli military has “no knowledge of this case.”.